Björn-Ola Linnér | Linköping University (original) (raw)
Papers by Björn-Ola Linnér
Environment Systems and Decisions, 2014
In a global context, the outlook for the Nordic region is relatively favourable, given its relati... more In a global context, the outlook for the Nordic region is relatively favourable, given its relatively stronger resiliency to climate change impacts in comparison to many other geo-political regions of the world. Overall, the projected climatic changes include increases in mean temperatures and in precipitation, although regional variations can be significant. The countries' robust institutions and economies give them a strong capacity to adapt to these changes. Still, the need for adaptation to the changing climate has been and still is substantial, and in most of the region, there has been progress on the issue. This paper explores the potential for Nordic cooperation on adaptation; specifically, for the development of a regional adaptation strategy. In particular, it addresses two questions (1) What is the current state of adaptation in the Nordic countries? and (2) What are the potential benefits and weaknesses of a Nordic strategy for adaptation? In order to answer these two questions, this paper examines reviews the current national adaptation policies of each Nordic country and discusses the challenges facing a Nordic strategy and finally assesses the potential for common Nordic adaptation policy and further cooperation.
Like its Nordic neighbours, Sweden anticipates significant warming due to climate change-3°C to 5... more Like its Nordic neighbours, Sweden anticipates significant warming due to climate change-3°C to 5°C by the 2080s compared with 1960-1990, increased precipitation, increased flood and landslide risks, and rising sea levels-the latter primarily affecting the south. Since a major government-sponsored assessment in 2007, Sweden has been implementing policy changes to adapt to climate change, both at the national level and in individual municipalities, but much more remains to be done. A wealth of adaptation research in the country, through programmes such as Mistra-SWECIA as well as smaller-scale initiatives, is helping policymakers, planners, businesses and the general public to better understand climate impacts, the need for adaptation, and the options available to them. There is also plenty of innovation on the ground, such as in Malmö, where multiple "green" technologies are being tested that could help reduce the impacts of increased precipitation and heat.
Sustainability Science
This study explores features of food system transformations towards sustainability in the Farm to... more This study explores features of food system transformations towards sustainability in the Farm to Fork Strategy in relation to perspectives of Swedish food system practitioners. Transformations towards sustainable food systems are essential to achieve the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and the need for more sustainable food systems has been recognised in the European Green Deal and its Farm to Fork Strategy. The Swedish ambition to act as a global leader in achieving the 2030 Agenda and the European Commission’s aspiration for Europe to lead global food system transformations offer a critical opportunity to study transformational processes and agents of change in a high-income region with externalised environmental and sustainability impacts. Drawing on theories of complex systems transformations, this study identifies features of food system transformations, exploring places to intervene and examines the roles, responsibilities, and agency related to these changes. The results of thi...
The Political Economy of Climate Change Adaptation, 2016
Environmental studies professor David W. Orr once wrote about a remarkable experiment involving t... more Environmental studies professor David W. Orr once wrote about a remarkable experiment involving two different groups of kittens, raised in rooms that differed only in the color of their walls.1 One group was raised in a room painted with horizontal lines, the other with vertical lines. After several weeks, the kittens were moved from one room to the other. Despite the fact that both environments were identical with the exception of the lines on the walls, both groups suffered severe adjustment problems, including higher mortality rates. The implications of the study concerning perception and adaptability to the environment are interesting, but also telling in a human context. Orr’s research prompts us to ask: if we are forced to adapt to much more serious situations, will humans experience similar degrees of coping difficulties? More importantly, if the political economy aspects we identify in this book are correct, will some malevolent actors create disorientation by design, utilizing chaos and confusion to hide the underlying processes endowing them with wealth and power?
The Political Economy of Climate Change Adaptation, 2016
Bangladesh contributes little to global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it is one of the countries ... more Bangladesh contributes little to global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Because it sits at the intersection of three major river basins, illustrated in Figure 2.1, and features flat deltaic topography with low elevation, it is prone to a multitude of climate-related events such as floods, droughts, tropical cyclones and storm surges. Fifteen percent of its 162 million people live within one-meter elevation from high tide,1 and annual floods inundate between 20 and 70 percent of the country’s landmass each year.2 Bangladesh has high population density and rates of poverty. It is the seventh most populous country in the world, with a density greater than one thousand persons per square kilometer.3 Yearly per capita income ranges from 400to400 to 400to1,700 (depending upon what counts and whether purchasing power parity is considered).4 Bangladesh also has extreme climate variability, naturally alternating between seasons of monsoon and winter drought, and the nation is dependent upon crop agriculture, which is highly sensitive to changes in climate.5 Two-thirds of Bangladesh’s critical infrastructure sits five meters or less above sea level and Bangladesh is the most vulnerable country in the world to tropical cyclones and the sixth most vulnerable to floods.6
Applied Geography, 2016
VisAdapt aims to support Nordic homeowners´ climate change adaptation processes The research in... more VisAdapt aims to support Nordic homeowners´ climate change adaptation processes The research involved developers and users through a transdisciplinary approach. Downscaled information is a key element expected by users Assessment of interactivity and data varied both across countries and user experience VisAdapt made climate effects tangible and initiated discussions and reflections
IEEE computer graphics and applications, Jan 25, 2016
In this article we present the design and implementation of the web-based visualization tool VisA... more In this article we present the design and implementation of the web-based visualization tool VisAdapt, developed to support homeowners in the Nordic countries to assess anticipated climate change and climate related risks which are expected to negatively impact their living conditions. The tool guides the user through a three-step visual exploration process to facilitate the exploration of risks and adaptation measures, specifically adapted to the user. VisAdapt has been developed over the course of two years in close collaboration with domain experts and end users to ensure the validity of the included data and the efficiency of the visual interface. Although VisAdapt is designed for Nordic homeowners, the insights gained from the development process and the lessons learned from the project could be valuable to researchers in a wide area of application domains.
2014 IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), 2014
This poster presents the design and implementation of the webbased visual analytics tool VisAdapt... more This poster presents the design and implementation of the webbased visual analytics tool VisAdapt which allows houseowners in the Nordic countries to assess potential climate related risk factors that may have an impact on their living conditions, and to get an overview of existing guidelines of how to adapt to climate change and extreme weather effects.
This book traces the development of an international discourse of crisis through the influence of... more This book traces the development of an international discourse of crisis through the influence of such thinkers as William Vogt, Fairfield Osborn and Georg Borgström, labelled 'neo-Malthusians' for their emphasis on an impending clash between population growth ...
Local Environment, 2016
The transformational potential of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in Tanzania: assessin... more The transformational potential of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in Tanzania: assessing the concept's cultural legitimacy among stakeholders in the solar energy sector While energy-sector emissions remain the biggest source of climate change, many least-developed countries still invest in fossil-fuel development paths. These countries generally have high levels of fossil-fuel technology lock-in and low capacities to change, making the shift to sustainable energy difficult. Tanzania, a telling example, is projected to triple fossil-fuel power production in the next decade. This article assesses the potential to use internationally supported Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) to develop solar energy in Tanzania and contribute to transformational change of the electricity supply system. By assessing the cultural legitimacy of NAMAs among key stakeholders in the solar energy sector, we analyse the conditions for successful uptake of the concept in (1) national political thought and institutional frameworks and (2) the solar energy niche. Interview data are analysed from a multi-level perspective on transition, focusing on its cultural dimension. Several framings undermining legitimacy are articulated, such as attaching low-actor credibility to responsible agencies and the concept's poor fit with political priorities. Actors that discern opportunities for NAMAs could, however, draw on a framing of high commensurability between experienced social needs and opportunities to use NAMAs to address them through climate-compatible development. This legitimises NAMAs and could challenge opposing framings.
Local Environment, 2016
The transformational potential of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in Tanzania: assessin... more The transformational potential of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in Tanzania: assessing the concept's cultural legitimacy among stakeholders in the solar energy sector While energy-sector emissions remain the biggest source of climate change, many least-developed countries still invest in fossil-fuel development paths. These countries generally have high levels of fossil-fuel technology lock-in and low capacities to change, making the shift to sustainable energy difficult. Tanzania, a telling example, is projected to triple fossil-fuel power production in the next decade. This article assesses the potential to use internationally supported Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) to develop solar energy in Tanzania and contribute to transformational change of the electricity supply system. By assessing the cultural legitimacy of NAMAs among key stakeholders in the solar energy sector, we analyse the conditions for successful uptake of the concept in (1) national political thought and institutional frameworks and (2) the solar energy niche. Interview data are analysed from a multi-level perspective on transition, focusing on its cultural dimension. Several framings undermining legitimacy are articulated, such as attaching low-actor credibility to responsible agencies and the concept's poor fit with political priorities. Actors that discern opportunities for NAMAs could, however, draw on a framing of high commensurability between experienced social needs and opportunities to use NAMAs to address them through climate-compatible development. This legitimises NAMAs and could challenge opposing framings.
The scope of climate change research has grown immensely over the last decade. Beyond the extensi... more The scope of climate change research has grown immensely over the last decade. Beyond the extensive efforts to map and understand how the various components of the climate system interact and respo ...
Climate Change and the Crisis of Capitalism, 2012
Are established economic, social and political practices capable of dealing with the combined cri... more Are established economic, social and political practices capable of dealing with the combined crises of climate change and the global economic system? Will falling back on the wisdoms that contributed to the crisis help us to find ways forward or simply reconfigure risk in another guise? This volume argues that the combination of global environmental change and global economic restructuring require a re-thinking of the priorities, processes and underlying values that shape contemporary development aspirations and policy.This volume brings together leading scholars to address these questions from several disciplinary perspectives: environmental sociology, human geography, international development, systems thinking, political sciences, philosophy, economics and policy/management science. The book is divided into four sections that examine contemporary development discourses and practices. It bridges geographical and disciplinary divides and includes chapters on innovative governance that confront unsustainable economic and environmental relations in both developing and developed contexts. It emphasises the ways in which dominant development paths have necessarily forced a separation of individuals from nature, but also from society and even from ‘self’. These three levels of alienation each form a thread that runs through the book. There are different levels and opportunities for a transition towards resilience, raising questions surrounding identity, governance and ecological management. This places resilience at the heart of the contemporary crisis of capitalism, and speaks to the relationship between the increasingly global forms of economic development and the difficulties in framing solutions to the environmental problems that carbon-based development brings in its wake.. Existing social science can help in not only identifying the challenges but also potential pathways for making change locally and in wider political, economic and cultural systems, but it must do so by identifying transitions out of carbon dependency and the kind of political challenges they imply for reflexive individuals and alternative community approaches to human security and wellbeing
The landscape of environmental research funding after the reorganization of the Swedish research ... more The landscape of environmental research funding after the reorganization of the Swedish research councils
FN:s klimatpanels, IPCC, tredje delrapport i sin senaste utvardering av klimatforandringen. Rappo... more FN:s klimatpanels, IPCC, tredje delrapport i sin senaste utvardering av klimatforandringen. Rapporten behandlar atgarder for att begransa klimatforandringarna Har presenteras en svensk oversattning ...
Environment Systems and Decisions, 2014
In a global context, the outlook for the Nordic region is relatively favourable, given its relati... more In a global context, the outlook for the Nordic region is relatively favourable, given its relatively stronger resiliency to climate change impacts in comparison to many other geo-political regions of the world. Overall, the projected climatic changes include increases in mean temperatures and in precipitation, although regional variations can be significant. The countries' robust institutions and economies give them a strong capacity to adapt to these changes. Still, the need for adaptation to the changing climate has been and still is substantial, and in most of the region, there has been progress on the issue. This paper explores the potential for Nordic cooperation on adaptation; specifically, for the development of a regional adaptation strategy. In particular, it addresses two questions (1) What is the current state of adaptation in the Nordic countries? and (2) What are the potential benefits and weaknesses of a Nordic strategy for adaptation? In order to answer these two questions, this paper examines reviews the current national adaptation policies of each Nordic country and discusses the challenges facing a Nordic strategy and finally assesses the potential for common Nordic adaptation policy and further cooperation.
Like its Nordic neighbours, Sweden anticipates significant warming due to climate change-3°C to 5... more Like its Nordic neighbours, Sweden anticipates significant warming due to climate change-3°C to 5°C by the 2080s compared with 1960-1990, increased precipitation, increased flood and landslide risks, and rising sea levels-the latter primarily affecting the south. Since a major government-sponsored assessment in 2007, Sweden has been implementing policy changes to adapt to climate change, both at the national level and in individual municipalities, but much more remains to be done. A wealth of adaptation research in the country, through programmes such as Mistra-SWECIA as well as smaller-scale initiatives, is helping policymakers, planners, businesses and the general public to better understand climate impacts, the need for adaptation, and the options available to them. There is also plenty of innovation on the ground, such as in Malmö, where multiple "green" technologies are being tested that could help reduce the impacts of increased precipitation and heat.
Sustainability Science
This study explores features of food system transformations towards sustainability in the Farm to... more This study explores features of food system transformations towards sustainability in the Farm to Fork Strategy in relation to perspectives of Swedish food system practitioners. Transformations towards sustainable food systems are essential to achieve the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and the need for more sustainable food systems has been recognised in the European Green Deal and its Farm to Fork Strategy. The Swedish ambition to act as a global leader in achieving the 2030 Agenda and the European Commission’s aspiration for Europe to lead global food system transformations offer a critical opportunity to study transformational processes and agents of change in a high-income region with externalised environmental and sustainability impacts. Drawing on theories of complex systems transformations, this study identifies features of food system transformations, exploring places to intervene and examines the roles, responsibilities, and agency related to these changes. The results of thi...
The Political Economy of Climate Change Adaptation, 2016
Environmental studies professor David W. Orr once wrote about a remarkable experiment involving t... more Environmental studies professor David W. Orr once wrote about a remarkable experiment involving two different groups of kittens, raised in rooms that differed only in the color of their walls.1 One group was raised in a room painted with horizontal lines, the other with vertical lines. After several weeks, the kittens were moved from one room to the other. Despite the fact that both environments were identical with the exception of the lines on the walls, both groups suffered severe adjustment problems, including higher mortality rates. The implications of the study concerning perception and adaptability to the environment are interesting, but also telling in a human context. Orr’s research prompts us to ask: if we are forced to adapt to much more serious situations, will humans experience similar degrees of coping difficulties? More importantly, if the political economy aspects we identify in this book are correct, will some malevolent actors create disorientation by design, utilizing chaos and confusion to hide the underlying processes endowing them with wealth and power?
The Political Economy of Climate Change Adaptation, 2016
Bangladesh contributes little to global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it is one of the countries ... more Bangladesh contributes little to global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Because it sits at the intersection of three major river basins, illustrated in Figure 2.1, and features flat deltaic topography with low elevation, it is prone to a multitude of climate-related events such as floods, droughts, tropical cyclones and storm surges. Fifteen percent of its 162 million people live within one-meter elevation from high tide,1 and annual floods inundate between 20 and 70 percent of the country’s landmass each year.2 Bangladesh has high population density and rates of poverty. It is the seventh most populous country in the world, with a density greater than one thousand persons per square kilometer.3 Yearly per capita income ranges from 400to400 to 400to1,700 (depending upon what counts and whether purchasing power parity is considered).4 Bangladesh also has extreme climate variability, naturally alternating between seasons of monsoon and winter drought, and the nation is dependent upon crop agriculture, which is highly sensitive to changes in climate.5 Two-thirds of Bangladesh’s critical infrastructure sits five meters or less above sea level and Bangladesh is the most vulnerable country in the world to tropical cyclones and the sixth most vulnerable to floods.6
Applied Geography, 2016
VisAdapt aims to support Nordic homeowners´ climate change adaptation processes The research in... more VisAdapt aims to support Nordic homeowners´ climate change adaptation processes The research involved developers and users through a transdisciplinary approach. Downscaled information is a key element expected by users Assessment of interactivity and data varied both across countries and user experience VisAdapt made climate effects tangible and initiated discussions and reflections
IEEE computer graphics and applications, Jan 25, 2016
In this article we present the design and implementation of the web-based visualization tool VisA... more In this article we present the design and implementation of the web-based visualization tool VisAdapt, developed to support homeowners in the Nordic countries to assess anticipated climate change and climate related risks which are expected to negatively impact their living conditions. The tool guides the user through a three-step visual exploration process to facilitate the exploration of risks and adaptation measures, specifically adapted to the user. VisAdapt has been developed over the course of two years in close collaboration with domain experts and end users to ensure the validity of the included data and the efficiency of the visual interface. Although VisAdapt is designed for Nordic homeowners, the insights gained from the development process and the lessons learned from the project could be valuable to researchers in a wide area of application domains.
2014 IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), 2014
This poster presents the design and implementation of the webbased visual analytics tool VisAdapt... more This poster presents the design and implementation of the webbased visual analytics tool VisAdapt which allows houseowners in the Nordic countries to assess potential climate related risk factors that may have an impact on their living conditions, and to get an overview of existing guidelines of how to adapt to climate change and extreme weather effects.
This book traces the development of an international discourse of crisis through the influence of... more This book traces the development of an international discourse of crisis through the influence of such thinkers as William Vogt, Fairfield Osborn and Georg Borgström, labelled 'neo-Malthusians' for their emphasis on an impending clash between population growth ...
Local Environment, 2016
The transformational potential of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in Tanzania: assessin... more The transformational potential of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in Tanzania: assessing the concept's cultural legitimacy among stakeholders in the solar energy sector While energy-sector emissions remain the biggest source of climate change, many least-developed countries still invest in fossil-fuel development paths. These countries generally have high levels of fossil-fuel technology lock-in and low capacities to change, making the shift to sustainable energy difficult. Tanzania, a telling example, is projected to triple fossil-fuel power production in the next decade. This article assesses the potential to use internationally supported Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) to develop solar energy in Tanzania and contribute to transformational change of the electricity supply system. By assessing the cultural legitimacy of NAMAs among key stakeholders in the solar energy sector, we analyse the conditions for successful uptake of the concept in (1) national political thought and institutional frameworks and (2) the solar energy niche. Interview data are analysed from a multi-level perspective on transition, focusing on its cultural dimension. Several framings undermining legitimacy are articulated, such as attaching low-actor credibility to responsible agencies and the concept's poor fit with political priorities. Actors that discern opportunities for NAMAs could, however, draw on a framing of high commensurability between experienced social needs and opportunities to use NAMAs to address them through climate-compatible development. This legitimises NAMAs and could challenge opposing framings.
Local Environment, 2016
The transformational potential of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in Tanzania: assessin... more The transformational potential of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in Tanzania: assessing the concept's cultural legitimacy among stakeholders in the solar energy sector While energy-sector emissions remain the biggest source of climate change, many least-developed countries still invest in fossil-fuel development paths. These countries generally have high levels of fossil-fuel technology lock-in and low capacities to change, making the shift to sustainable energy difficult. Tanzania, a telling example, is projected to triple fossil-fuel power production in the next decade. This article assesses the potential to use internationally supported Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) to develop solar energy in Tanzania and contribute to transformational change of the electricity supply system. By assessing the cultural legitimacy of NAMAs among key stakeholders in the solar energy sector, we analyse the conditions for successful uptake of the concept in (1) national political thought and institutional frameworks and (2) the solar energy niche. Interview data are analysed from a multi-level perspective on transition, focusing on its cultural dimension. Several framings undermining legitimacy are articulated, such as attaching low-actor credibility to responsible agencies and the concept's poor fit with political priorities. Actors that discern opportunities for NAMAs could, however, draw on a framing of high commensurability between experienced social needs and opportunities to use NAMAs to address them through climate-compatible development. This legitimises NAMAs and could challenge opposing framings.
The scope of climate change research has grown immensely over the last decade. Beyond the extensi... more The scope of climate change research has grown immensely over the last decade. Beyond the extensive efforts to map and understand how the various components of the climate system interact and respo ...
Climate Change and the Crisis of Capitalism, 2012
Are established economic, social and political practices capable of dealing with the combined cri... more Are established economic, social and political practices capable of dealing with the combined crises of climate change and the global economic system? Will falling back on the wisdoms that contributed to the crisis help us to find ways forward or simply reconfigure risk in another guise? This volume argues that the combination of global environmental change and global economic restructuring require a re-thinking of the priorities, processes and underlying values that shape contemporary development aspirations and policy.This volume brings together leading scholars to address these questions from several disciplinary perspectives: environmental sociology, human geography, international development, systems thinking, political sciences, philosophy, economics and policy/management science. The book is divided into four sections that examine contemporary development discourses and practices. It bridges geographical and disciplinary divides and includes chapters on innovative governance that confront unsustainable economic and environmental relations in both developing and developed contexts. It emphasises the ways in which dominant development paths have necessarily forced a separation of individuals from nature, but also from society and even from ‘self’. These three levels of alienation each form a thread that runs through the book. There are different levels and opportunities for a transition towards resilience, raising questions surrounding identity, governance and ecological management. This places resilience at the heart of the contemporary crisis of capitalism, and speaks to the relationship between the increasingly global forms of economic development and the difficulties in framing solutions to the environmental problems that carbon-based development brings in its wake.. Existing social science can help in not only identifying the challenges but also potential pathways for making change locally and in wider political, economic and cultural systems, but it must do so by identifying transitions out of carbon dependency and the kind of political challenges they imply for reflexive individuals and alternative community approaches to human security and wellbeing
The landscape of environmental research funding after the reorganization of the Swedish research ... more The landscape of environmental research funding after the reorganization of the Swedish research councils
FN:s klimatpanels, IPCC, tredje delrapport i sin senaste utvardering av klimatforandringen. Rappo... more FN:s klimatpanels, IPCC, tredje delrapport i sin senaste utvardering av klimatforandringen. Rapporten behandlar atgarder for att begransa klimatforandringarna Har presenteras en svensk oversattning ...